8.1 Ocean freight forwarding is an important part of international shipping carriage. Ocean freight forwarders are important intermediaries between cargo interests and carriers. However, there is no concept of ocean freight forwarding or ocean freight forwarders in the CMC 1992. In other words, the CMC 1992 does not regulate the business of ocean freight forwarding. Instead, departmental regulations govern the administration and operation of ocean freight forwarding. Unlike the traditional concept of freight forwarding, non-vessel-operating services provided by the non-vessel-operating common carrier (the “NVOCC”) is a newly-adopted concept regulated by departmental regulations. Freight forwarding services and non-vessel-operating services sometimes overlap and the status of service providers may not be clear in practice. However, it is important to clarify whether the services provider is an ocean freight forwarder as the agent or the NVOCC as the carrier. Multimodal transport is regulated by both the CMC 1992 and the Contract Law.